October 10, 2011

The Rise of the 3D Printer; an update

If you purchase the “Thing-O-Matic” 3-D printer from MakerBot, you too will be able to print out doll furniture in your own home. That’s according to a New York Times article “A Machine That Gives Shape to Your Ideas."

The MakerBot 3-D printer offers the possibility of manufacturing products in the home almost as easily as printing a document with an inkjet printer. The company’s Thing-O-Matic machine moves in three dimensions to spray layers of colored plastic to form objects, some quite intricate. Do-it-yourselfers are already selling 3-D printed products like custom dollhouse furniture

As you know, I have been predicting that the toy industry’s game changer is going to be the 3-D printer. 3-D printers, as the name suggests, print out plastic, three dimensional objects. The fully assembled

machine is $2500 and the kit is $1300. Think of what happens when these printers get under $500 in price…your bedroom becomes a mini-factory. No more container ships, no more duty, in fact, no more factories. Now that will be a game changer.